In ancient Greece, the Gymnasium was used to practice exercise, as a public bath, as a center for studies and as a common place for philosophers. The main idea of this project is to create a meeting place for the citizens. The building is configures into several exterior and interior areas where coexistence happens in a natural way. The project is divided into three parts, the first one, exterior, with a horizontal area ready to hold open air events. The second one defined as daily sports facilities, and the third one understood as the multipurpose gymnasium and spectators area, conceived as an area around the courts and directly linked to the park on the east side of the plot. The last part is the area with the common facilities such as dressing rooms, cafeteria and offices, all of them organized around those three main areas, ensuring the proper functioning of the building.

The hilly terrain of the plot must be reorganized to improve the accesses to the new building, as well as to give the citizens public spaces with enough quality to be used by them. By moving the ground, a new horizontal area at +30.00 is created and it defines the main access to the gymnasium. At the same time, and thanks to the section proposed, the link with the east wooded area allows a fast evacuation of the whole building at +34.00. By doing this, the building solves its relation to the ground and the accesses at the different levels of the plot.

The main link to the city is made from the south art of the plot at +30.00 where the new horizontal plane and the Street match. In the middle point of the street at +27.00, there are some stairs and a ramp to reach that new plane. In the north part of the plot, besides the parking access at +24.00, there are some stairs to get to the intermediate level before stated. Emergency and service vehicles can access from the south or enter the parking from the north. The link with the new Dalseong Sports Complex Park is made by a bridge and an elevator. These multiple accesses try to boost the use of this public building in the city, and to create a link to the new sports complex in the north.

Not making an open air parking lets the creation of a horizontal plane in front of the building ready to be used whenever the citizens desire, to practice sports or just to be relaxed far from the traffic of the street near the plot. By putting some trees in the south part of the plot the project defines its limits but at the same time it is connected to the wooden east area. This means, the gymnasium is not a closed building but also it is opened to the exterior, increasing its qualities as a meeting point for the city. With this simple action, what was before a building with two sports area, it becomes into three meeting places based on sports.

The proposed building materials for the new gymnasium, try to show the building as a reference point in the city due to its quality and warmth. Creating a cozy space is a key fact to make people want to go to the gymnasium. Concrete, metal plates and wood. The proposed construction systems assure a fast and efficient way to build the project. The sustainability of the building is reached from the first step of positioning the building in the right part of the plot. The facing of every area, with its right exposure to the sun and natural ventilation, the green roof, the skylights in the multipurpose area, as well as the interior height well-adjusted according to every useful area reducing the inner volume to be heated, all these actions improve the performance of the technical facilities and its final amount of energy consumption.

In order to use the maximum site area within the budget, initial design began with functional requirements of setback and parking circulation at the ground floor area. So, 1st floor area was defined by the space required for parking and use of common space. 2nd floor includes cafeteria and office area. 3rd floor was planned for classrooms for students during week days. The final 4th floor had been set to follow the required capacity of occupancies 250 for the church service for Sunday service.

As a challenge all the time, limited budget with aesthetic expectation has been long debate to find exterior and interior materials to choose for limited selections. The featured metal fi ns attached to the exterior curtain wall was compromised with its size and detailed connection materials. Regardless of all, we believe that its unique and simple design idea enhance the beauty of the building in the region.

The site is located urban area close to the down-town of Daegu, one of the biggest Cities in South Korea. In contrast to its locality, this town is isolated from the major city development. The community gets older, and young couples have been moving out to other towns to provide better education for their children.

Its new design is mainly reasoned to help those people in the town to see better place with its unique and landmark architecture from their home. This small change would tell to others the town is not abandoned. Thus, seniors in the church are outnumbered among church members. Yet, its mountain hill entrance hinders accessibility for them and its deficiencies of parking space even demote its condition worse. Designing the new church becomes to provide solutions to those problems.

Based on the limited budget about 2.8 million USD for 3500sm size building; it was a big challenge to design the landmark in this region. The overall space requirement is separated into two major elements which are parking area, 900sm, and non-parking area, 2600sm. On one hand, the parking grid was mainly applied to limit the design for the utmost efficiency to maximize the space, and on the other hand, we had to interpret the church into another symbolic element to create the landmark in the town by differentiating the usual icon of church design in Korea, such as red bricks, symmetric plan, and the pointy roof and the cross at rooftop.

Not to mention, we had to deeply contemplate about the Christianity. The symbolic idea of Christianity had to be revealed in align with Christians’ life in this world. Our thought was minimized by the definition of the Heaven referred to the teaching of Jesus on the mountain, when he taught of “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” It’s meaning that our heaven is among us even if we are poor. Despite various circumstances confronting us as always, our life should experience the Heaven. Only be the condition to be the poor in spirit.

Architecturally, the sloped site becomes catalyst to express the obtuse or acute angles of the exterior shape as a form of life. It represents anguish, pain, sadness, happiness etc, those of which become even eased or disappeared, or even rectified in a better way thru the reflection of the sky of the box(worship area) in the middle of the building as if people see the heaven right now. Because of it, they may overcome worse situation than anything they would ever face. They are blessed. They are people who are poor in spirit. They know their sinful nature. Therefore, through the sky reflected by the mirror stainless steel, we believe it will give them a moment to pause and think about their victory given already. That was the icon that we wanted to make for this new landmark.

The site is characterized, on the south and west side, by a homogeneous low-rise urban texture. To the north side, the site faces a long and narrow urban park which is stretched along a major circulatory artery. On the north side of the main road, high-rise housing block are distributed along the circulatory axis. On a urban level, one of the challenges of the project was to reconnect the diverse building scales existing in the surroundings area while providing the local community with an eye-catching, friendly integrated new public library.

Moving away from the standardized homogeneity of the surrounding built environment, the design of the new library establishes a subtle resonance with the pre-existing urban texture. The articulation of its volumes, the proportions and its height establish a critical and yet interesting dialogue with the surrounding buildings in the attempt to reconnect the chaotic nature of the site within one coherent synthetic gesture. The entire mass of the new library is split into four distinctive volumes of approximately the same footprint of the adjacent low-rise urban plots

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This organization offers a clear visual and volumetric connection with the scale of the adjacent building and provides a welcoming and inclusive new structure for the local community. These four bodies are distinct and separate at ground floor where an inclusive public space is articulated as an extension of the local public garden. The main lobby of the building is located at level +3. At this level the lobby is wrapped by a stretching surface connecting the four bodies of the building and forming a gently curved roof structure. From the lobby space a spiral circulation serves the different areas of the building while visually connecting the various spaces located at the four corner of the structure.

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The internal spiral organization facilitates the navigation throughout the building and provides spectacular views between levels. The different functions of the building, while connected with the spiral circulatory ramp, are placed at the four corner of the building in correspondence with the free standing volumes: there a more intimate and quite space provides the ideal set for reading and studying.

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Landscape

One of the main features of the project is the organization of the ground level as the natural continuation of the adjacent public park. By splitting the library in four volumes -which are then reconnected at the level of the lobby- the ground floor is freed and kept public as an extension of the urban landscape. By doing so, the building offers at the level of the street a welcoming public space for the community to interact with the building while not necessarily using its facilities. This sheltered space underneath the main lobby of the library can be used in multiple way by the local community: as a space for gathering and interplay.

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Program

At the ground floor the building is slip into four main core volumes. This subdivision allow for the public use of the space below the main lobby to be used for informal gathering and for (cultural and recreational) activities to take place. In this area the four volumes host respectively: the main access lobby where the main reception, administration offices and information point is located; the children corner which take advantage of this location to access to and accessed from the external public garden; the plant room to ease external access.

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At level +3 is located the main lobby space, the periodicals room, local data and children room at level. From here a spiral circulatory ramp serves the various areas of the library. The ramp revolves around a main empty atrium allowing for a simple visual navigation throughout the building and its functional areas. Following the ramp onwards, the following areas unfold: the preservation room at level +4; the reading room, the digital room at level +5; humanities, society and linguistic room at level +5, +6 and +7; the exhibition and lecture room at level + 8.

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Structure & Cladding

The building is formed by four free standing independent volumes which are connected at level +3 by a spanning slab. The main structure of the four volumes is made of reinforced concrete frame from the ground level to the lobby level. From level +3 onwards the exterior structure is designed as a light weight steel diagrid tied back to the concrete core by the steel slabs. The cladding is made by thin steel fins that follow the geometry of the pods by drawing the contours of their very geometry. This organization of the cladding provides shadowing to the interior space while allowing effective filter to the passage of natural light.

Daegu-Gosan Park Library proposes a progressively ascending spiral that both creates a collaborative learning environment and dynamically merges with the life unfolding in the surrounding city park. The book-stacks wrapping the outer wall of the four-story spiral ramp facilitate browsing its walk of shared continuous knowledge.

The ground floor glass-skin visually welcomes the park into its interior atmosphere and promotes the library’s engagement with community activities. Private and public spaces smoothly conjoin; the park visually running unhindered beneath the library.

The scale of the building achieves a pedestrian friendly character, and its axial ratio modulates to the building fronts across the street. The spiral structure designed around a dome, brings light inside the building and forwards the interplay of the different areas in the program and articulates the four stories of the building towards a XXI century evolved ethos of relaxed self-initiated learning.

We believe that to guarantee that this library becomes a major city and neighborhood destination it must become a continuation of the existing park and community activities, to fully revitalize the Daegu-Gosan area.

The ascending ramp articulates as a series of platforms with universal access. The furnishing elements along the gradually ascending platforms and ramps prompt various study-work experiences around different programmatic clusters. It’s Culture and Life-long Learning Area, located at ground level, has an independent access suitable for conferences, screenings, workshops, shopping, lounging, all past library hours.

The Children Book Section, on the third floor, enjoys a roofgarden which permits children to interact freely without noise considerations. The Preservation Room is in the basement and the Offices are distributed on the top and bottom floors to enhance performance.

This Continuum Library preserves the maximum park area to promote an attractive cultural hub and hang-out center in the city. The two pancoupe corners in the library respond in one case to the elongated park where the entrance is created and in the other side to face the church as well as to contextualy eco the various pancoupe buildings in the area.

The building is designed under sustainable, bioclimatic standards and the wooden plank façade organically integrates its raising structure to the park creating a harmonious relationship between knowledge, community and nature.

The Daegu Library site is situated in the heart of city of Daegu, the 3rd largest city in South Korea.

The design of the library is imagined as a natural extension of local life in the surrounding area. By creating a flexible framework it sets up its main premise: defining an inviting new urban center for both people and knowledge.

The ground floor of the building is flexible and open with three public entrances allowing visitors to flow through the lounge, visitor and information center areas unobstructed. The flexible ground floor layout allows the library to host different functions throughout the year spanning from fashion shows to public readings and lectures.

Image Courtesy HAO / Holm Architecture Office

The program specific parts of the building are stacked above, set back from the building façade, culminating in the main reading room and book stack areas situated at the top. This program placement reverses the traditional library model and creates unique opportunities for reading and studying in areas that are filled with light and air.

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To shield the main book stack area from direct sunlight, the buildings glass roof has an integrated shading pattern that diffuses and filters light above the most sensitive book areas.

The building design takes full advantage of natural ventilation and utilizes trees to provide natural exterior shading around the building.

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“With the design of the Daegu library we wanted to fully embrace the expanding role of the modern library as a center of both knowledge and community. By reversing the traditional library layout, moving the main reading rooms to the top, we wanted to emphasize ideas of openness, flexibility and community within the design.”

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About HAO / Holm Architecture Office

HAO / Holm Architecture Office is an international design collective founded in 2010 by Danish architect Jens Holm.

HAO focuses on creating strong working collaborations with clients and designers through an open and inclusive design process. We believe that collaboration on all levels of the design process leads to exciting ideas and strong projects.

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HAO is a multidisciplinary office that works collaboratively with an array of professional fields, allowing us to examine new ways of thinking and implementing design. We believe in the mix, both in our work and in the people we collaborate with.

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HAO is currently working in the US, China and Europe on projects ranging in scale from art installations to city planning. HAO recently won the competition to design the Samaranch Memorial Museum in Tianjin, the Qingdao Master Plan in Qingdao and the competition to re-design the Coleman Oval Park and Skate Park in Manhattan, New York.

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For more information on HAO, please visit our website at: www.holmarchitectureoffice.com or contact us at info@holmarchitectureoffice.com

This proposal conceives the library as a cultural and social space for the local community. For this purpose the project focuses in obtaining a functional, attractive and comfortable facility that constitutes an essential element for neighborhood´s everyday life. In order to achieve this objective, the project translates the scale of the domestic space to a public facility, without lack of its public dimension.

The surrounding urban grid is composed by small residential buildings. The new library is planned to have a direct relationship with the environment in terms of scale,to be understood as a service for the community.

The total volume of the building is divided into eight parts, similar to the surrounding buildings scale. The modular volumes are raised from the ground level and the resulting parts are conceived as different rooms, although the space of the library is continuous and the plan is free.

Image Courtesy Gorka Blas Revilla

The grouped volumes make the library spatially diverse and the scale of the library zones smaller. They also provide the rooms with different amount of light.

The cultural and educational facilities are located in the upper floors, directly accessible from the main entrance. The office is located under the library so it is completely functional and private.

Image Courtesy Gorka Blas Revilla

The library is located in a public space surrounded by trees, so the building is placed in the center of the site in order to prevent the trees from being cut and to preserve the character of the existing public space.

The advanced technology of reading materials by computer, Kindle and even cell‐phone devices helps people easily access to information even way much more than what library could provide in last decades. Therefore, the main function of library seems to have a change in order to accommodate the current trend of getting and providing information.

As for designing a new library in this era, our design concept is to agree that people are in need of finding places to sit and get relaxed for getting information from books, magazine, articles, etc. Thus, the expanded program for the local community by providing classrooms, and exhibition area, lecture room, semi‐private reading areas, digital data corner, etc. will be another major change in current library system. We believe not in a dramatic way but strongly the new design of space that should convey this change in a way to enhance and motivate public to come and enjoy the use of library.

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Design Description

The first ideas we aimed for this library was that it should have private reading area with opened arcade. In order to achieve it, the distance of book shelves each other was developed based on necessary space allocated for people looking for a specific book section and for people who want to take a time to sit and enjoy reading in private. By this arrangement, a unit of book shelves area was created and it is arrayed in a direction to make a form of architecture.

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Then, it has been horizontally inclined each other to a certain degree by providing enough entrance, book shelves, semi private open reading area one after another. By doing so, its shape seems more naturally formed as books on a shelf.

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The space that we imagine for the library was all about user friendly, so the space should be well lighten by the sun. Hence, a mass of rectangular is stretched to pass through the each book sections to get a proper opening with lights from the sky. Also, parking lot entry was designed in the same manner. For the better use of this extensive sunlight, we brought Kalwall (transparent wall system) into our main design elements. Its transparency is to get enough brightness from the sun, and at the same time, its heat resistance also good for a climate like Daegu with four distinct seasons. In addition, its easy construction method would be even beneficial for the realization of the project.

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The structure system we expect is basically reinforced concrete structure. Its structural mega walls (bookshelves walls) act as columns. With floor slabs, they will act as a truss system. Thus, for the mechanical design, we locate the space on level 3 floor for its easy ventilation. The interior air flow will easily resume from the top floor to circulate air into lower floor which return air will be located. The travel of the air will easily flow from the inner surface of shelves at walls and under the roof area. Plus, the opening area from the north to the south will create natural ventilation of interior space.

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We strongly believe that those sustainable design approaches to this library apparently support the community well with its well lit opened, yet privately separated space, as well as its energy savings.

Louver Haus is the multi-household building which was built for lease profit. It is located in high density housing areas in sang-dong, su seong-gu, Daegu(metropolis in Korea). Su-seong pond which is one of the large-scale open spaces in Daegu, is near the south of site, and also Dae-duck mountain standing over this area.